Melbourne

About Melbourne

L’Arche Melbourne is the newest of the L’Arche Communities in Australia. We are a community of over forty people who are committed to living the journey together. Traditionally L’Arche communities in Australia have been centred around households where folk with and without intellectual disability live together sharing daily life. Here in Melbourne we are living L’Arche in new ways:

We have a have a “House of Welcome”, in the Melbourne bay side suburb of Black Rock. Here, Gerard and Cameron offer hospitality and support to the members of our Community with an intellectual disability, their families and other folk who are part of our Community. This can take the form of people coming over for a coffee, a meal or a few nights stay.

We go to people’s homes to spend time with them when there is a need or sometimes just for fun!

The whole Community gathers once a month at the local Uniting Church Hall. At these gatherings we spend time sharing stories, exploring a theme, praying and sharing a potluck meal. We’ve had poetry soirées, walked a labyrinth, watched the sunset on the beach, sung songs and danced. It is at our Gatherings that our whole community comes together.

We are particularly connected with the families of the people with intellectual disability in our community. We recognize that ageing parents supporting and loving their sons and daughters with an intellectual disability often live a hidden life of anxiety and exhaustion. As a Community we offer two reflection days a year, just for parents, to have some time to connect, reflect and share. We are committed to building relationships with the parents of our members with intellectual disability

We are supporting our members with intellectual disability to connect with services that enable them to have a good life.

In addition to maintaining our current community, we are working towards having some of our members with intellectual disability come and live with us.

We are a diverse Community of people from many different backgrounds; we have poets, gardeners, buskers, business people, ministers, dancers, homemakers, lawyers and students. Why not come and share a cuppa with us and say G’day, we look forward to meeting you.

L’Arche Melbourne Newsletter

Our History

The dream, the goal of a L’Arche community in Melbourne has been an aspiration of many groups for over 25 years. Jean Vanier himself was here in the late 1970s giving 2 inspiring retreats. Then, in the 90s, members of L’Arche Sydney visited and provided us with more impetus. A public talk in 2000 by Eileen Glass, illuminating the spirituality of Jean Vanier, added more momentum.

From these beginnings, a group of people with previous involvement with L’Arche began to meet regularly to plan, to pray and to dream. It was November 2001 when, at last, we put the serious questions to ourselves – what exactly do we have to do now to start a L’Arche community in Melbourne? A committee of 10 was established the following year, to develop strategies and work systematically towards our goal. We were incorporated, office bearers elected, charity and tax-deductible status established, accounts opened, subcommittees created for planning and development, The Ark Group, The Spiritual Life Group, fundraising and publicity were all established.

In 2003 Friends of L’Arche, Melbourne achieved “project status” within the Federation of L’Arche, giving us access to the support, experience, expertise and guidance of L’Arche Australia. The following year, we were able to find a Community Leader, Fiona Horsburgh. Fiona had been living in a L’Arche community in Scotland for 9 years and was happy to return home to Victoria. Fiona became Melbourne Community Leader early in 2005. In June 2006 we settled on Black Rock, in Bayside Melbourne, as the location to found our community. Gerard Bennett and Fiona established a “House of Welcome”. With support from Catholic parish of Beaumaris/Black Rock, we have taken a 20 year lease on a beautiful parish house. It was also at this time we were recognized as a service provider by the Victorian Department of Human Services (DHS)and funded for a project officer position. In 2007 after establishing the house Fiona returned to Scotland and Cameron Cutts from L’Arche Sydney was invited to become our Community Leader. In November 2008 L’Arche International welcomed us into the Federation as an official L’Arche Community and we became L’Arche Melbourne.

L’Arche Melbourne Finding Friends at Home

L’Arche Melbourne Patty Street Project

An opportunity is available to invest in our vision for our Patty Street community home. It is located in the bayside suburb of Melbourne and is one of the L’Arche households where people with and without intellectual disabilities live life together in a place they call their home and fulfil their dream of living independently in their local community.

L’Arche Melbourne purchased Patty Street in late 2011 for $900,000 with the support of an interest free loan. To date, we have managed to pay back $260,000 through the support of the philanthropic sector and fundraising. Our aim is to clear the debt over the next three years; with our immediate focus of this project being to raise $300,000. This will require the generous support of 100 people being willing to commit $1,000 per annum for the next three years.

By investing in this initiative, you will not only be supporting the acquisition of the housing asset to ensure the long term home for Greg and Dominic who live there, you will be contributing to an initiative that shows that people with an intellectual disability have the right and capability to live in the wider community where they grow as a person, participate in, and take as much responsibility as they can for their own lives. You will be contributing to creating a richer society, one that accepts the great gifts that people with an intellectual disability have to offer.

To all our incredible supporters across Australia, L’Arche Australia is proud to once more be launching our annual ‘Share a Meal’ social fundraiser for 2016! The official month of Share a Meal in 2016 is the entire month of August, however Share a Meal can be done by absolutely anyone at absolutely anytime! So what is ‘Share a Meal’? Share a Meal is a nationwide time where L’Arche Australia asks supporters such as you to host a meal with your friends/family/work colleagues to come together as a community bonded by the sharing of a meal, whilst also supporting the work of L’Arche […]

L’Arche Internationale has continued its series of #AsIAm videos, featuring amazing stories of L’Arche from many walks of life. L’Arche Australia is proud to spread awareness of these videos by showing to all the supporters of L’Arche Australia the third installment of the #AsIAm series.

L’Arche Internationale, as part of their #AsIAm campaign, has recently released their second video! Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ST39z3tCvM We highly encourage everyone to take a look at this video and help spread awareness of the #AsIAm campaign! You can also subscribe to both L’Arche Internationale and L’Arche Australia’s Youtube pages: L’Arche Internationale: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC21N_EDq0DTA1oZQPz-M-zA L’Arche Australia: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv_NN47Hd5LrLFjaYqmVe4w

Community Leader: Cameron Cutts Address: PO Box 107, Black Rock Vic 3193 Phone: +61 3 9589 6953 Email: melbourne@larche.org.au L’Arche Melbourne is the newest of the L’Arche Communities in Australia. We are a community of over forty people who are committed to living the journey together. Traditionally L’Arche communities in Australia have been centred around households where folk with and without intellectual disability live together sharing daily life. Here in Melbourne we are living L’Arche in new ways: We have a have a “House of Welcome”, in the Melbourne bay side suburb of Black Rock. Here, Gerard and Cameron offer […]